Polly Salter, who lined up at goal defence in the Bulldogs' stirring one goal grand final win against Kangaroo Flat, has moved back to the region after five years in Brisbane.

The tenacious and high-flying defender and former Bulldogs A-grade best and fairest returned to Victoria recently to attend her mother's funeral and has decided to stay put.

Reappointed A-grade coach Tarryn Rymer could not be happier to have Salter back in red, white and blue, albeit acknowledging the tough personal circumstances.

"Polly used to play goal defence for us before Madds (Maddy Stewart) did and was a very, very handy player - very skilful," she said.

"She's one of those players who is a real team player. She is great at motivating and getting other players up and about.

"We are very to excited to have her back. She obviously wants to be back with her family after everything they have gone through.

"It was an unfortunate circumstance, but we are rapt to have her back, she's still great friends with all the girls and it's just the thing we needed to get our recruiting going.

"We've started touching base with all the girls and seeing where they are at in relation to next season, even though we know that is really hard to think about at this stage considering what is going on (with coronavirus) and a lot of them don't know what they will be doing.

"But most of them are coming back and adding Polly and hopefully Maddy to the mix will be exciting."

"What Polly brings to the club is more than just on the court, she will be a great mentor to our young players."

The Bulldogs have got commitments from their champion midcourter and dual Betty Thompson Medal winner Tiana Newman, together with rising stars Holly Doricic, Emerson Lakey and Charlotte Crook, while Tazma Morris, who was stepping up to A-grade full-time in 2020, has agreed to stay with the club after initially contemplating travel, which remains up in the air due to the coronavirus.

In a further boost, Rymer said another 2013 premiership defender Mel Harris, who played a handful of games in 2019, was expected to take to the court next season.

"Her and Polly played in defence together, so having those two back adds a lot of versatility to our team," she said.

"I can see us being pretty flexible and having plenty of depth as well."

After her first season as A-grade coach barely got off the ground, with the season being cancelled early in July, Rymer said she was eager to take on the job again, but admitted she was no certainty to continue in a playing capacity.

"It felt like we started something good last season and then it was just left open, so I am keen to get back into it," she said.

"In terms of playing, I think 'no', I'm just going to take it easy and see how it goes.

"We've still got a lot of young girls coming through and most of them are sticking around, and some (under) 17s who are coming up, who bring lots of depth to our A-grade and A-reserve.

"It's exciting to see what might happen when we do finally get back out on court."

Read more: Gisborne survives fightback to win first BFNL A-grade flag

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